A Thousand Words
by Kitsune Moonstar
Summary: AU. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. As a photographer, Roy knows this. He just didn't expect this picture to mean so much.
1. Caught in the Rain

Author's Note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU. This story has already been posted within An Apple a Day.

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**Caught in the Rain**

It was a fluke really. He didn't realize what he had until he'd developed the film. They'd been walking down the same street, but she hadn't really registered in his mind. He'd been snapping various shots. He remembered that she'd strayed into one of the shots, but he really hadn't thought about it at the time. He was too absorbed in his work at that point. Or at least his misery about his work.

He wasn't happy, not with his personal life and not with his work. He was a good photographer. His employers never complained. But lately, he just couldn't find that spark that grabbed the viewer in his work. Oh, they were good photos, but that was all they were.

Roy had been in the dark room when he discovered it. He'd been taking down the newly developed film and had stumbled across it. The shot was of a young woman dressed in a raincoat and carrying one of those clear plastic umbrellas. She was pretty enough, not stunning, but she had a nice face. What really caught him about the photo was her eyes. They were an odd color, dark amber with hints of a reddish tone; he wasn't sure what he'd call it. That just added to the effect. Her eyes were a little sad, a little wistful. Combined with the rest of her expression, they made certain you knew this woman was lonely. In fact, she looked as lonely as he felt.

It wasn't that he couldn't find companionship; it was the fact that despite all the girls he'd dated, he'd yet to find a real partner among them. His best friend was married and now expecting his first child, and Roy wanted what Maes had with Gracia, a true partnership. Between that and his dissatisfaction with his work lately he had been feeling pretty miserable lately. But the photo was proof that he still could capture emotion with his camera as well as just the picture.

He made prints of it, and the original went into a silver frame that he kept on his table in the living room. It didn't take long for Maes to call him on it.

"Okay, who is she and why do you have her picture? You never keep pictures of your girlfriends around."

"I don't know who she is. I took that two weeks ago. She's amazing, isn't she? You can just tell she's lonely."

Maes was looking at him oddly. "Roy, if I didn't know better, I'd say you'd fallen in love with a photograph."

He laughed. "I'm not in love with her. That's the best photo I've taken this year though. I would like to meet her one day. She chose the perfect moment to get caught in the rain."

His friend just shook his head. "Roy, if you ever meet this girl, I guarantee you'll end up married to her. You're acting like it."

"Maes, you're crazy."

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Theme: Photo/ Precious Junk


	2. An Offer of Tea

Author's Note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

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**An Offer of Tea**

It was a bad day all together. It had been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day from the start. The fact that her boss was a jerk never made any day good, but today that was compounded with a number of other things, and she was ready to shoot people if she ever got her hands on a gun.

It had been drizzling when she woke up. She didn't mind that, but it seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day. Thanks to a rather hectic week, she had not been grocery shopping, and all that was left for breakfast were some overripe bananas. She didn't even like bananas. They'd been a gift from a client. So Riza had skipped breakfast, intending to grab something at the local coffee shop on her way to work. Of course, the bus had been crowded and late, and by the time she'd gotten to her stop, there was no time to stop and pick up tea and a pastry.

She'd gotten to work on time, thank God. Just barely, but still on time. It gave her boss one less thing to gripe at her about, but he had plenty of others. Frank Archer didn't approve of the fact that she could probably do his job better than him. He didn't approve of women in the workplace in general, and to add insult to injury, she refused to go out with him. None of that made for a pleasant working environment. Added to that, there were several meetings with prospective clients today, and Archer had found all sorts of meaningless busy work to keep her out of the way, so he could run the show.

She spent the rest of her morning running all over creation fetching things, buying supplies, and running errands that had been left to the last minute. Her lunch break was almost half over by the time she'd finished. She'd nipped down to the local coffee shop in hopes of finally getting some food. She got the food, but they messed up her order, and it took twice as long for her to get it. And she was late getting back to work.

After being yelled at by her boss, Riza spent the rest of her afternoon in the company archives pulling files. Which wouldn't have been so bad except that the archives were in the middle of being reorganized, and nothing was where it was supposed to be. Plus, the archivist wasn't thrilled about having someone who wasn't part of her staff in the middle of the mess, not that any of her staff could be spared to pull the files for Riza. When she finally emerged from the archives at the end of the day, exhausted, dusty, and with all the files she'd been sent to retrieve, she found that the drizzle had turned into a full downpour, and that her wonderful boss had given her umbrella to their newest client.

With that news she had simply gathered up her things and walked out the door. She had liked that umbrella. It was one of the big ones that you could fit nearly three people under, and it had a Monet print as its pattern. She'd been walking down the street, minding her own business and getting soaked, when the combination of bus on the street and a biker on the sidewalk proved to be the final straw. Within half a minute she had been knocked over into a puddle and then drenched by the spray from the passing bus.

For several moments she just sat there, completely bowled over by the just how awful the day was, and then she realized that she wasn't being rained on anymore.

"Here."

And suddenly there was a pair of hands helping her up.

"Why don't we head over to the coffee shop over there, so you can dry off and getting something warm to drink before you start shivering?"

She looked up to find herself face to face with man about her age with dark eyes and unruly black hair. He was also holding her umbrella. It was a completely random thing to notice, but she was staring past his shoulder at the umbrella, and he was staring at her.

"You have my umbrella."

"You're the woman in my photo."

They looked at one another, not really knowing what to say. Then he reached over to brush a damp strand of hair from her face. "Look, why don't we go over to the coffee shop? You can dry off, and I'll try to explain."

She found herself being led down the street to the little café she often frequented. The man was quick about getting her a towel from the staff and ordering them hot drinks. "A large coffee, and what would you like?"

"Chai latte," she replied absently, trying to get her hair to stop dripping on everything thing.

"A large chai latte for the lady."

He smiled at her. "I'm sorry about the umbrella. I was suspicious when Archer offered it, but he assured me it was just a spare. I probably should have known better, but at that point, I just wanted to get away from him."

She blinked at him. "You said something about a photograph."

He pulled out his wallet and handed her a photo. "That's you isn't it? I didn't really mean to take your picture, but it was the first picture I'd taken that I was satisfied with in ages, so I've kind of kept it with me as a good luck charm. I always did kind of want to meet you though."

She looked at the picture in her hand. It was maybe six months ago on another rainy day when she'd been feeling miserable. He was right, though; it was a good picture.

"I guess I really should introduce myself. I'm Roy Mustang." He offered her his hand.

"Riza Hawkeye."

"Can I buy you dinner?"

She blinked at him again. "Dinner?"

"Well, I did steal your umbrella, if accidentally, and I owe you some sort of recompense." He gave her a lopsided smile. "Dinner seems appropriate."

Riza was feeling a little overwhelmed here. So apparently, there was this rather cute guy who had taken her picture, accidentally stolen her umbrella, and now wanted to taker her out to dinner to apologize. It sounded very nice. But on the other hand, she was wet, tired, and really wanted a shower.

A thought occurred to her, and she smiled. "Do you cook?"

"What?" He looked surprised.

"Do you cook?" She repeated. "If you do, we can stop the supermarket one our way back to my place, and you can cook dinner while I take a shower."

He considered the offer. "Do you like cheese fondue?"

"I even have a fondue pot."

"Sounds like a plan."

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Theme: Pouring Rain


	3. Singing in the Rain

Author's Note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

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**Singing in the Rain**

"Are you sure you won't let Maes drive you two home? It's started to rain already."

Roy smiled at the woman in the armchair. Gracia was curled up with an afghan across her lap and her daughter of two months in her arms. "We'll be fine, Gracia. A little water won't hurt us. Besides, I fancy a walk with my lady this evening."

Gracia smiled at Riza. "I don't think that she wants to tramp about in the rain, Roy."

Riza smiled back at the older woman. They'd become good friends despite the very brief acquaintance. "I don't mind. It's only sprinkling after all."

The couple finished their goodbyes and headed out into the evening. It was drizzling slightly, but that was all. Hand in hand, they two of them began the walk back to Riza's apartment. It was something like a twenty minute walk, but it was all down hill for the most part, and the temperature was pleasant enough.

As they walked, the two of them talked about the puppy she had recently acquired. The drizzle intensified, but neither really noticed. They did notice once it really and truly began raining. However, Roy was in a whimsical mood, and they could hear music coming from some where, so he swept Riza into his arms and into a waltz. She'd laughed following his lead. They'd waltzed down the street for a good two blocks before stopping, mostly because they had started to attract odd looks from the other people on the street.

Giggling, she took his hand, and they raced between the raindrops like a pair of children. They were both breathless with laughter by the time they reached her apartment building. Riza grinned up at him, and he was reminded of the picture that had led to their meeting. It had been raining that day too, but her eyes no longer held the loneliness they had then.

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Theme: A Walk


	4. Rainbow Connection

Author's Note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

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**Rainbow Connection**

They continued to share the umbrella even though the rain had stopped for the most part. It blocked out the rest of the world, leaving the two of them with only each other. They were in no hurry. Yes, they were heading home, but it didn't matter when they got there. It had stopped raining, but the sky was still grey for the most part. Neither of them minded. No words were spoken. They weren't needed, companionship was enough. Finally, they reached her apartment. She smiled and handed him the umbrella as she stepped under the overhang.

"Walk me home again tomorrow?"

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "Of course."

She squeezed his hand. "Only two months, two weeks, and four days left."

He tapped the ring on her left hand. "I know."

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Theme: After the Rain


End file.
